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Caufield asked about St-Louis’passion
Credit: Twitter
Here we are: halfway through the season.

The Canadian found the worst way to reach the halfway point of the season with his horrendous performances on Wednesday in Philly and Thursday at home against the San Jose Barracuda, but hey.

In the end, right now, the club finds itself with a total of 40 points in 41 games. That’s more than expected.

(Credit: NHL.com)

The Habs don’t have the club to close the gap and become a great playoff team in 2024, we know that. That said, the club can be proud of its point total.

And that’s even if there are things to work on within the team.

That said, on the other hand, everyone is aware that Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are positioning themselves to draft a player who will be important for the future.

The deadline, when guys like Sean Monahan, David Savard and (maybe) Jake Allen are expected to leave, will help in that sense. #Tankathon

(Credit: Tankathon)

But hey. When it comes to analyzing the first half of the season, the first thing to look at is who had a good role to play in the club’s successes on the ice.

And when we look at the points, we see that Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson have a star next to their notebook. It’s not necessarily a surprise, but they’ve upped the ante in terms of points – and, in Suzuki’s case, in terms of his defense. #Selke

Obviously, seeing Cole Caufield on track for 56 points (pro-rated) is excellent. That said, it’s his goal total that continues to be the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

He’s down to 11. Last year, in 46 games, he was at… 26.

It’s obvious on the ice that he’s not exactly the same. He doesn’t take the same shots as he used to and he’s less confident with the puck, it seems. He doesn’t create space as easily as he used to.

Pierre McGuire, on the other hand, isn’t exactly worried about Caufield. That’s what he said about #22 on his podcast “The Sick podcast – The Eye Test” recently.

So he’s not of the school that says the American is dragging Suzuki down. In his eyes, the fact that the Habs are plagued by injuries (notably to Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach) changes the game. He believes this affects the young man’s production.

The fact remains that, in my opinion, Cole Caufield is one of the Habs’ disappointments since October, along with Jake Allen, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher (provided you believe the expectations were there for him).

On the other side of the spectrum? Juraj Slafkovsky, Samuel Montembeault, Nick Suzuki, Jayden Struble and Justin Barron – even if it’s been tougher lately – are among the surprises. But we all agree: Slaf and Monty are in a class of their own.

We’ll just have to hope that the Slovakian is able to stay healthy between now and the end of the season…


Breaking news

– Big vote of confidence in the Quebecer.

– To be continued.

– Can’t wait?

– For over a month, Canada has been looking good.

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